Improvement in sewing-machines



To all whom it may concern:

UNITED. STATES PATENT .OFFICEL.

ALFRED s. nnvsMo E, or BOSTON, AND JOHN T. CARTER, 0E SALEM, MASS.

IMPROVEMENT IN SEWING-MACHINES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 152,618, dated June 30,1874; application filed Be it known that we, ALFRED S. DINSMORE, ofBoston, Suffolk county, and JOHN T. CAR- TER, of Salem, Essex county,all in the State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improved Sewing orTraveling Seam-Stitching and Cloth- Stretching Machine 5 and we dohereby declare that the. following, taken in connection with thedrawings which accompany and form part part of this specification is adescription of our invention sufficient to enable those skilled in theart to practice it.

Our invention is especially designed for joinin g together the ends ofpieces of cloth or fabric, in order to convert them into a continuouspiece, such as is necessary in many operations in, and branches of,manufacture; and the particular object sought by us is to insure aperfectly straight seam Where two ends are thus joined, for if notstraight the pieced web will not be straight nor flat, and will becorrespondingly obstructed, and the results defective or unsatisfactory.

To attain the proposed end, our invention consists, primarily, intheemployment of a sewing-machine combined with a track-frame andappropriate connecting mechanism, whereby the sewing-machine propershall, when driven automatically, travel in a positively straight line,so as to carry its stitch-making devices across the ends of the clothsor goods to be seamed together, the cloth in the meantime being heldstationary. It further consists in the special devices for effecting thetraversing motion of the machine; for disconnecting it from suchdevices; for returning it it to its starting-point; in a specialmechanism for stretching and holding the goods; and in other detailshereinafter mentioned.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation, partly in section, andFig. 2 is a plan of a machine, illustrating our invention.

A represents a sewing-machine, which, in this instance, is of the formof the Wilcox and Gibbs single-thread machine; but it must be understoodthat any-other class of machine, whether making the chain, double-chain,or look stitch, may be used in practicing our invention. Thesewing-machine is arranged to rest and slide upon ways or tracks a, inparallel rails b, which extend lengthwise of a frame,'B, which frame andrailsinay be of any desired length to suit the widest goods across whichthe stitching mechanism is to traverse when uniting the ends of thefabrics. This traveling or traverse motion is effected as follows: Theprime motor-gear c, in communicating a revolving motion to the shaft (1by means of gear 6, gives, also, revolving motion to'the wormf, on saidshaft, and this movement of the worm gives a slower revolution to theworm-gear g, which is rigidly secured to the vertical shaft h, whichlast-named shaft has also secured to it another and similar worm-gear,i, so that both gears g and i shall revolve coincidently. This lattergear, a, is so arranged as, at will, to be thrown either into or out ofengagement with a fixed, non-revolving, screw'threaded, cylindrical bar,k. It will now be seen that when they are thus in engagement themovement of the shaft (1, which puts the sewing mechanism into operativeaction, will also cause gear 2', as it revolves, to progress steadilyalong the threaded bar k, and thus carry along the whole sewing machinein the same directionthat is, across the frame B, from one end towardthe opposite end, the, distance being entirely under the control of theoperator, and determined by the width of the fabric; or, in other words,by the length of the seam to be made. To disen gage the gear 1' from bark, we employ a locking-lever, l, which, when in the positions shown inthe drawing, acts upon the arm at, (through which passes the shaft h, onwhich are both the gears g and i,) and keeps 6 audio into engagementagainst the stress of a spring, 0, and when this locking-lever is turnedso as to free the arm m, the spring throws them out of engagement. WVhenso out of engagement, the machine may he slid upon its track, as may bedesired, to any position neededas, for instance, back to itsstarting-point, prepara tory to making a seam.

It will be seen from the above that the path of the machine, and,consequently, of its needle and stitches across the fabrics, must beabsolutely in a right line, and the seam made a perfectly straight one,such as is shown in the dash-lines p 19, Fig. 2, the dotted lines (1 q qq representing the sides and end of a piece or pieces of fabric.

Our devices for receiving, stretching, and holding the stretched fabricswhile being united, are as follows: A slotted swing-plate, 0*, havingthereon pins, upon which one selvage of the fabric may be impaled, is sopivoted and controlled in its movements by its irregular slot and a pin,that when the hand-lever t is slightly lifted from its latch a, andmoved to the right, it will throw forward that end of the plate 1" whichcarries the pins o v, bringing them outward in front of the frame.Another slotted plate, 7', at the opposite end of the frame, is arrangedto be slid and secured at any required distance along the band 10, whichextends across the frame, to adjust for cloths of any width.

To operate the combined apparatus, first move the sewing-machine to theleft hand of the frame, throw the lever t forward, so as to bring thepoints U 1) forward in front of the traversing pathway of the needle;then hook the selvages at the ends of the cloth onto the points 0 o and'v c, then draw the lever t back to its catch a; this draws the clothdirectly under the needle, and stretches the goods. Now, move the handleI so as to bring i into gear with k, and then put the sewing-machineinto action, and the same shaft that actuates the stitching mechanismwill cause the machine to pass over the stationary goods and stitchacross it. The machine may then be moved back, and other ends of goodsunited in the same manner.

It is evident that the details of construction may be varied to usemechanical equivalents of some of the parts, or to vary their positionto accommodate for different kinds of work, or for different styles ofsewing -machines which may be employed, but without departing from thespirit of our invention. The track may be of any desired length, and themachine may be dovetailed to it or otherwise, so long as it be firmenough and yet travel thereon.

We claim- 1. In combination with the stationary frame, the devicesherein described for holding the fabric in a stretched and stationarycondition, and a sewing-machine arranged to travel automatically inright lines on ways or guides upon and across such frame, and across thebreadth of the stretched fabric, substantially as shown and set forth.

2. The combination of the shaft d, worm f, shaft h, gears g and i, andthreaded bar k, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

3. The combination, with the gear 9, 0f the arm m, locking-lever l, orits equivalent, and spring 0, substantially as and for the purpose setforth. I

' 4. The combination of the slotted swinging plate r, provided withpins, the locking-lever t, and the plate 1", adjustable on the band 10,substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

A. S. DINSMORE. JOHN T. CARTER.

Witnesses:

1 GOULD, M. W. FROTHINGHAM.

